Secure near-field communications generally require specialized communication hardware configured to broadcast information according to specified communication protocols. Such specialized hardware is generally not included in mobile phones and similar mobile devices, and requires very specific communicative functionalities not otherwise available to mobile devices. Thus, to use a mobile device to communicate using such specified protocols requires add-on specialized communication hardware. For instance, the communication hardware add-on can couple to a USB port on a mobile device, can broadcast and receive near-field communications, and can provide such near-field communications to the mobile device via the USB port.
Mobile devices are increasingly used to conduct financial transactions. For instance, a user of a mobile device may wish to pay for coffee at a coffee shop with the mobile device. As discussed above, the near-field communications required for such a transaction generally requires additional specialized communication hardware, which can be expensive and inconvenient to use. Accordingly, the ability for a mobile device to perform secure near-field communications without the use of specialized hardware can reduce the costs and simplify the process of using a mobile device to conduct financial transactions.